M51 Infantry Fighting Vehicle
The M51 Infantry Fighting Vehicle was a wheeled infantry fighting vehicle designed by the United States Military starting in 2070, after experience in the American Annexation of Canada proved that the venerable M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, even with its latest upgrades, was woefully outgunned by the Canadians MC12 Stryker infantry fighting vehicles. In 2068, the US Department of Defense issued specifications for a wheeled fighting vehicle with a cold fusion engine capable of traveling at speeds of at least 140 miles per hour, with armaments capable of engaging infantry and, if necessary, tanks. Design The final design chosen was a vehicle heavily influenced by the MC12, with similar titanium-depleted uranium composite armor and an engine powered by a cold fusion reactor. On a paved road, the vehicle could reach speeds of 150 miles per hour, with a top speed of 60-70 mph off road, however, as it often operated in conjunction with tanks, the M51 was often forced to travel at much slower speeds to keep up. The vehicle was armed with 120mm low-recoil, short-barreled gun-launcher, which relied on anti-tank guided missiles or plasma shaped charge shells to engage enemy armor, while high explosive, canister, and "mini-nuke" rounds were available for engaging infantry and structures. The gun was mounted in a one-man turret and fed using an autoloader, with a standard capacity of 30 rounds and five ATGMs. The turret also mounted a co-axial 7.62mm machine gun and turret-top pintle mount for an M2 .50 caliber machine gun, minigun, or Gatling laser. Finally, the tank carried an M-78 Tactical Grenade Launching System previously mounted on the M56 Main Battle Tank. The M78 consisted of two twin-linked automatic 40mm grenade launchers on the front of the vehicle with a vertical elevation of up to 65 degrees, a depression of -10 degrees, and left to right traverse of 35 degrees. These weapons had a range of up 400 meters, were often loaded with a combination of airburst and impact detonated rounds, which proved high effective against infantry and unfortified buildings in the Sino-American War. The M78 is operated by a fourth (in addition the commander, driver, and main gunner) crewman who also acts as radio operator and co-driver. Variants *'M51AA Mobile Anti-Air Vehicle:' Light self-propelled anti-aircraft gun and missile system, armed a turret modified to carry a 20mm Vulcan rotary cannon or heavy Gatling laser and two FGM-219 "Quadbarrel" quad-shot dual purpose missile launchers. *'M51C3 Command, Control, and Communications Vehicles:' Internal troop bay replaced with radio and computer suite for use as a forward command vehicle. Armament identical to standard model, identified by retractable radio antenna on top of turret. *'M51EW Energy Weapons Carrier': Standard Turret replaced with turret armed with high-energy laser weapon designed for penetrating armor. *'M51M Mortar Carrier': Troop bay replaced with 120mm mortar and ammunition stowage, with firing port on back roof of vehicle. Turret and other features identical to standard vehicle. *'M51MGS Mobile Gun System': Fire support variant with turret replaced with 120mm high velocity gun in unmanned turret equipped with autoloader. Troop bay divided between fire control station and additional ammunition stowage. *'M51ARRV Armored Repair and Recovery Vehicle:' Armored repair and recovery vehicle with turret replaced with crane for towing armored vehicles. Folding stabilizers located at front and rear on the sides of the hull. Troop bay modified for stowage of equipment. Pintle-mounted M2 .50 caliber machine gun next to commander's hatch for defensive armament. *'M51E Engineering Vehicle': Armored engineering vehicle with mount for dozer blade, mine plow, or mine roller. Turret replaced with mount for either backhoe bucket, crane, or mine-clearing line charge (MCLC), folding stabilizers located on sides of the hull at front and rear. Troop bay modified for stowage of equipment. Pintle-mounted M2 .50 caliber machine gun next to commander's hatch for defensive armament. Operational History Sino-American War Development on the M51 IFV began on March 12th, 2070 following reports coming out of Canada during the American annexation there. Reports showed that the Canadian MC12 Stryker had been overpowering the American M113 APC despite many upgrades and that a new vehicle was in need of replacing it on the front lines. Further pressure was added when Canadian collaborators with China began smuggling them into occupied Alaska through a secret supply route that the American Pacific Fleet couldn't reach. Eventually, the IFV was ready in 2071 and was deployed to the frontlines of the Canadian Campaign and first saw action at the Second Battle of Fort Smith where it penetrated Canadian defenses and eliminated the Strykers only suffering two destroyed vehicles in the process. Not long afterwards, the M51 was being used across Canada and over 3,000 were shipped Alaskan Front to support the Alaskan Frontline against Chinese forces. MC12 Strykers were being used by the Chinese, but many captured models were being used by American forces and they would fight alongside the M51 IFVs during the Alaskan Campaign. Post-War Conflicts After the war, most of the IFVs were destroyed in nuclear fire, but many managed to survive the horrors of the war and either remained active or were rebuilt by post-war factions. One of these was the New California Republic which had the needed materials to rebuild and restart dozens of M51s and would integrate them into the New California Republic Defense Force as the primary infantry fighting vehicle alongside surviving M113 APCs and MC12s. Caesar's Legion got possession of some copies, but they were in limited numbers and they were destroyed during the NCR Arizona Offensive at Dolan Springs and Nova Roma/Flagstaff. Users Pre-War *United States Army *United States Marine Corps *United States National Guard Post-War *New California Republic Military (~60 in inventory) *Cascadian Defense Forces (45 in inventory) *Republic of Arizona Army (~20 in inventory) *US Military Remnants *Brotherhood of Steel *Commonwealth Minutemen (limited numbers post-2288) *Caesar's Legion (Limited numbers, all destroyed at Battle of Dolan Springs and Siege of Nova Roma) *Union of the Ute and Navajo Nations (Ten vehicles taken from pre-war New Mexico National Guard. Six recovered in working order after liberation from Legion, two more received as part of the payment for Tuba City under the Treaty of Gallup). *Llano Confederation Army (15 in inventory, mostly divided between Amarillo and Clayton) *Japan Self-Defense Forces (postwar) (50 in inventory, inherited from US Forces) *The Shogunate (35 in inventory) *Communist Party of Japan (32 in inventory) *Ryukyu Republic (27 in inventory) *The Armored Merchant (California and Southwest region caravan operating out of a recovered and repaired M51) Category:Vehicles